For CBIE expert, PF billionaire scheme reveals tax and regulatory vulnerabilities in the sector
O Poder360in partnership with CBIE (Brazilian Center for Infrastructure), launches this Saturday (6.Set.2025) another episode of the weekly analysis program Infra in 1 minute.
Pedro Rodrigues, a partner of the consultancy and oil and gas specialist, comments on Operation Hidden Carbon, triggered by the Federal Police on August 28, and the structural risks of the fuel sector in Brazil.
In the 139th episode of Infra in 1 minuteRodrigues says the operation revealed a billionaire chain of evasion, money laundering and fuel tampering. Between 2020 and 2024, companies linked to the scheme imported more than $ 10 billion in fuels, using facade importers to purchase naphtha, hydrocarbons and diesel. The products were passed on to associated formulators and distributors, who evaded taxes and adulterated fuels to expand profit margins.
According to the expert, the complexity of the tax system and the low inspection favor the performance of opportunistic agents. He points out that the absence of a law on stretch debtors maintains evaders on the market, while the lack of resources and regulatory autonomy makes it difficult to combat adulterators.
For Rodrigues, the investigation does not represent an isolated case, but a symptom of a dysfunctional model. Tax simplification and the creation of governance mechanisms are, according to him, essential measures to ensure legal certainty and competitiveness in the sector.
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Infra in 1 minute
